Phoebe held onto Holiday’s hand and sighed with relief before tears of joy sprang to her eyes. “You’re awake.”

His face said it all, he was confused, a moment of panic hit him, then the doctor put a hand on Holiday’s shoulder and pushed to ensure he remained in his current position. Dr. Lee smiled down at him and said, “That was quite an injury you had, Mr. Holiday. I’m used to fixing broken legs and arms, so when I got the call there was an emergency gun-shot wound going into surgery, I was intrigued. You’re very lucky to be alive. If that bullet had landed any closer to the artery you’d be dead. As it is, you need to rest. Okay? The police will be in shortly to speak with you. If you don’t remember, don’t try to force it. They have the whole story, so give yourself time to truly recover before trying to force something that happened two days ago to snap back into place.”

Dr. Lee checked a few more vitals and nodded a smile as she left. Phoebe looked down at him. All that time he was worried about her and they were after him. “Maybe I should apply for a job at the Omega Team, all that time you were trying to protect me and it ended up being me protecting you.”

“What?” He cleared his throat and she gave him a cup with a straw and he took a sip of water.

She was actually proud of herself and so were the guys on the team that showed up in time to rescue Holiday and save his life. “I guess I always knew something was off about Steven. I mean he seemed to always know what I wanted or where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. You remember when we were dating and you told me about the tech you were working on to copy phones, well, I when I found out he knew my dad, I sort of copied his. He had no idea, but when you sent all of my stuff over to your office, they found that and knew he was after you.”

She frowned because she realized that even with all the answers, no one was there to stop him from getting shot. “I guess your backup was closer than you thought, but they were still too late. Why were you so close to him? The proximity is why that bullet did so much damage.”

“Damage?” He tried to turn his head but realized that was a bad idea as he winced.

“Yeah. You’re lucky to still be alive, but you will need some serious physical therapy before you can use that arm the way you used to, if ever. It tore through the muscles and the scar tissue alone is going to…”

“Will you marry me?” He blurted it out and she laughed. She bit her lower lip and nodded her head.

“Yes.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Though I will say that I found my gift and it wasn’t a ring, Handsome.”

He closed his eyes and relaxed back onto the pillow. “I bought that necklace before we broke up. I was going to give it to you for…”

“I’m wearing it now. I love it. Wait until you see what I got for you.” She touched the honey bee charm hanging from the delicate chain. She had put it on immediately when she found it. It helped her to focus on the fact that they were back together and that he was going to be okay.

“Slippers?” His lips tilted in a smile.

“A key.” She settled in next to him on the hospital bed and cuddled up as best she could. “Your key.”

“I’m going to need it. I have a feeling I’ll be out of work a while.” He sounded defeated.

“Actually, because I was able to hack your code and get your phone copy technology to work, I think we both may be useful as a team. They aren’t firing you. They took Steven into custody. Apparently, my dad isn’t the bad guy I thought he was either. He had been working for the government as a spy or some shit. He’s at the hotel now. He’s been here, with me, with you…”

“I can’t even…” He closed his eyes.

“The police are here.” She gulped. He didn’t hear them because he may never hear in that ear again.

“I didn’t…Am I…” He looked at her a new wave of panic and uncertainty in his expression.

“They don’t know if it’s permanent yet.” She slid her fingers along his cheek. “I love you. That’s all that matters right now. You are alive and we are together. If your arm never quite comes back to full strength and your hearing doesn’t return in that ear, I will love you just the same. If it were me…”

He gripped her hand and squeezed. “I’m glad it’s not you.”

She leaned in and kissed him quickly as the officers approached.